Home is....

"where the Army sends you"

"where you hang your hat"

"where your heart is"

As most of you know, R returned from Germany over the summer.  He is working just a bit too far away to commute daily, so he is with us on the weekends, and during the week he calls THIS home...

 

 

So...for R...he has TWO homes...one is "where the Army sent him" and hopefully the other is "where his heart is". 

 

We like to joke and call it his "VAN down by the RIVER"...and we even had to show the girls the SNL skit to show them why that was even funny! : )

 

But seriously, we are blessed that R's dad had this sitting in his yard, and even more blessed that he is allowing R to use it for the time he needs it! 

 

Our life is definitely not "normal", but we are somehow making it work!  By the time we actually live together full time again, we will have NO idea how to do it! : )

Finishing off the summer...

As soon as we got home from our beach vacation, Little R had a week of British Soccer Camp.  I think he would have been much more excited about it if we hadn't been away from home for a week, and if it hadn't been so VERY HOT!

Practicing his moves!

There's ALWAYS something to laugh about with Little R around!

Grandma & Grandpa Craig also stopped in for a visit.  We spent the day at Frontier City, and had tons of fun!  Again, it was VERY HOT!!

Ready for some fun!

The Tilt-a-Whirl...one of my favorites!

T rode with Grandma & Grandpa.  Grandma didn't fare so well...

I was the only one who didn't want to get wet!

A's turn with Grandma & Grandpa

Lunch at Cracker Barrel!

And Little R beating Grandma at checkers!!!
 

A family trip...FINALLY!!!

While we were in Germany, we travelled A LOT!  And we loved it A LOT!  But when we got back to the States last summer, we were content to stay put for a while...a long while.  But by the time R got home this summer, we were definitely ready for some travel time.

I NEEDED to get my feet into some sand, so we decided to head to Orange Beach, AL for a week away.  We had to squeeze it in between Abbi's two cheer camps, but used every single minute we had.

It was a great trip!  We needed time to just get away and reconnect and relax, and Orange Beach was the perfect fit for us.  MiMi & PaPa met us down there and spent a couple of days at the condo with us, which was great.  Great trip, great memories!

A different kind of Paris for us this year!

It had to be done...R insisted. 
 

LOVED our condo!  4th floor with a balcony looking right out onto the beach.

First day headed down to the beach.  MiMi & PaPa brought the country to the beach...straw hats, and jeans over our swimsuit! : )

We decided to "disconnect" during the trip and go basically technology free.  We took games, and bought these UNO cards as a last minute thought.  Little R was a natural!!  He LOVED the game, and I couldn't even begin to count how many games of UNO we played during the week. 

You gotta eat seafood at the beach, right?  Wonderful dinner!

You also HAVE to do family beach pictures!  Even if your "best friend photographer" can't come along to snap the pics.  Little R was dressed and ready to go!

A little Daddy/Son arcade fun.

This little guy is LUCKY!!  He got TONS of tickets, and even picked out prizes for his sisters!



Frozen yogurt!  There was also a Dairy Queen in Orange Beach (which we don't have in Edmond), and all I'm going to admit to is that we visited more than once during the week! : )

One afternoon we decided to build a little sand castle.  It turned out alright!  Okay, not really...but we saw a couple of guys working on this thing all afternoon.  It was neat to return after dinner that evening and see it finished.

This little guy LOVED the sand!  He doesn't love dirt...but he definitely loves sand.  Our kids haven't been to the beach very much in their lives...but they are all three like me...it is definitely their "happy place".

Can you say PHOTO BOMB???

Our handprints.  We did this on the beach in Ireland, so now its a tradition.

Last photo of the trip.  Final evening on the beach before heading out the next morning.  Great beach, great trip, great memories!